INTERVIEW: Free Blood
- Posted on April 8, 2008 9:19 AM
- 0 comments
Interview by Katie Spain
Want to know how to throw a frickin' good party? John Pugh is the man to tell you how. He's sure got enough experience. The !!! member has a new outlet for the creative juices oozing from his New York pores. Free Blood is the brainchild of Pugh and fashionista and partner in musical crime, Madeline.
They make music that'll make you "Sing along to car alarms", that makes you want to rip your eardrums out and throw them on the dancefloor so they don't miss a beat. They are the self-confessed soundtrack to a party... God knows they've seen enough of them. Re-inforce the foundations of your city dwelling; who knows, this innovative duo are not only the "Karaoke of the future", they may unleash it in a living room near you. We caught up with John Pugh to chat about humping the floor, the Queen's lavatories, dancing homeless men and the oncoming Free Blood empire. The future it seems, will be a hell of a lot of fun.
Welcome to London. What do you think of the place?
I like it! I came here every summer growing up because my mum’s British. I am familiar with it to a certain extent.
So you don’t need to do anything touristy while you are here then?
The only thing that my partner Madeline wants to do is go to Top Shop. I want to go to a couple of record stores but that is about all we have time for.
If the Queen asked you over for tea and you could ask her a question over a scone or two, what would it be?
Wow. I would ask…oh man….so many questions. I would ask her how many toilets there are in Buckingham Palace – just to know if she knew. If I was her, I would go on a tour of the toilets.
What’s your first musical memory?
I remember staying up really late on New Years Eve, 1984, and listening to an American DJ who used to do the Top 40 Countdown. He was doing the Top 100 of 1984. I was under the covers with head phones; I had a horrible head cold coming on. I had never stayed up that late either, I was only nine or ten. I was shivering and shaking but trying to hold out. Finally, it got to the number one song. It was Say Say Say by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. Every time I hear it, it’s exhilarating but also makes me feel a little sick because of the fever and being up so late.
That’s the sign of a very powerful song.
There is probably something earlier; I grew up in a house full of Classical music so I’m sure there is some Mozart or something that is the actual first music I heard. That doesn’t stand put in my memory as much as Pop though, that’s for sure.
When did the music bug really hit you? At what point did you realize that it was what you wanted to do.
I grew up listening to the radio and I had an older sister who was really smart about music. She got into New Wave and Punk four years ahead of me. She was handing down records to me when she got tired of them. So, I owe a lot to her. When I eventually started going to shows, I didn’t think of myself as a musician. I had been playing piano my whole life but I saw myself as a writer and artist. I wanted to be a sculptor for a long time. A friend of mine asked me to sing in his band. They wanted to be a band with propaganda and a band who handed out pamphlets and f*** with people's head. They wanted me to bring that aspect out in them. I started doing that and it was fun. From there on, I started flitting around; I wouldn’t play any one instrument. I would just do different things with each band. I couldn’t make up my mind. Fifteen years later, I have ended up here; still flitting around, still undecided and still not knowing whether I want to be an artist.
Do you still do sculpting?
No, not really.
As far as Free Blood is concerned, how did the collaboration come together?
It came together as one of those things that you talk about for a long time. I met Madeline through friends in bands in New York. We would see each other at parties and talk about our musical project, just for fun. It was something that we kept talking about, for almost a year probably, and conceptualizing it. We got to the point where we thought ok, we have to do something now. We started really simple and small; bass guitar and a drum machine. It was really stripped down. We started building from there. Now we are on the brink of getting a full band going; real drums, real guitars, real amps and a sting section.
You've played in a lot of small spaces and big parties in the past. Are there any performances that stand out?
They are all a blur really. We have played in a lot of different places. We are still keen to play house parties. We haven’t outgrown any of it; we still like to play in small spaces if we can. There is only one that stands out. It was a normal house party but it was a little evil and kind of hairy. The only person dancing was this one weird homeless guy that had wandered in, everyone else was on really bad drugs. These guys were harassing Madeline and trying to get in her face. I almost punched some people. That is the risk you run when you aren’t playing in a proper venue with security. Now the audience feels like we are getting in their face and that they want to punch us. We are trying to turn the tables.
What makes a good party?
Well, first of all, there can’t be any cover on the door or people trying to get money out of you. That’s just stupid, even if there are bands or DJs. It’s still someone’s house. It’s still a party. You can’t charge someone money for a party. There is to be no money involved. Secondly, there is to be plenty of free drink and clean water – and a working toilet. The sound system is important but not essential. It should be as loud as it possibly can. There shouldn’t be any neighbours in like five blocks. If there are any neighbours, they need to be the kind that puts on their best dress when they hear that a party is happening and grab a bottle of wine and say that they want to party with you. It adds an element of having people there that you don’t know. The fact is that they are enthusiastic.
I would love to come to a Free Blood party. I think they would be on par with an Australian party.
No way. Australia has the best parties. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
What made you guys want to follow another creative path?
There’s a small gap in our schedule and we thought that we should be able to do this. We need to be able to blow off some steam. We wanted to have something where we could get our ya ya’s out.
What does that mean?
It just means jumping up and down, like when a kid has been cooped up in school all day, and he wants to run around and climb on things. Sometimes you need full license to act like a total Jackass.
What can the UK audience expect from your up and coming gigs?
They should expect an intimate night. I feel like we have approached this like those weird couples that play in airport lounges in between flights. We are in you face and have sex with the floor. It is a lounge act but we sweat all over you.
Every gig should include having sex with the floor.
Yeah, the floor gets lonely too.
Is there any particular gig that you are really looking forward to in the UK?
We are looking forward to Bristol because we get to play on a boat. In Venice we played under a bridge. This time we play on the water. I am looking forward to Manchester because they have a great record store there. I am looking forward to Scotland – we have heard good things about the Scots.
I’m going to New York this week. If I was to experience New York in the Free Blood way, what would I get up to?
Free Blood style. Well, you could come over to our practice place in the basement of the place I live in. You could sit in the very small space with some very loud speakers and go deaf.
What makes you grumpy?
Probably lack of sleep and head colds. Also, other grumpy people taking it out on you for no reason.
If you won the lottery tonight, what would you do with it?
I’d buy some speakers and have some parties. That’s all I can think of to do.
Is there anything outside of music that you would like to achieve?
Just to keep extending the Free Blood Empire. I don’t think we want to be stuck doing music all the time. We want to do a lot of other good things.
What is the most memorable gig that you have been to as an audience member?
I saw James Brown once – that was pretty amazing. I kissed his feet which he was freaked out by.
Free Blood perform at the 100 club tonight, 8th April.
Related links:
Free Blood concert tickets.
Free Blood MySpace.
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